Automotive vehicle tailpipes are conventionally suspended beneath the vehicle by means of a tailpipe hanger. Such hangers are connected to the tailpipe by the means of a suitable clamp and are also connected to the vehicle frame or chassis or the like.
In the construction of a new automotive vehicle, such as an automobile or truck, the manufacturer normally uses a hanger of a predetermined size and shape for each particular model vehicle. By way of example, conventional types of tailpipe hangers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,912,198 issued Nov. 10, 1959 to Feil, U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,352 issued Dec. 15, 1964 to Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,887 issued Dec. 20, 1966 to Cassel, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,950 issued May 29, 1973 to Paintin. Conventional designs of such hangers usually include a resilient portion for absorbing and preventing the transmission of vibrations and noise from the tailpipe to the vehicle body, a suitable clamp portion for clamping or fastening the hanger to the tailpipe, and a means for fastening the upper end of the hanger to the vehicle itself. Because of the volume involved, the automobile manufacturer can use hangers which are non-adjustable or of predetermined size.
In use, tailpipe hangers tend to break over a period of time or alternatively, must be replaced when the tailpipe or muffler of the vehicle is replaced after these become worn. Service shops or garages which replace mufflers and tailpipes must handle a wide variety of models of vehicles of different sizes and shapes and thus, it is impractical for them to stock an original equipment model tailpipe hanger for each model vehicle. Hence, it is desirable to provide replacement shops with hangers that are adjustable to fit a variety of model vehicles. These adjustable tailpipe hangers are frequently referred to as "universal", meaning that various parts of them can be adjusted in length or angle to fit different model vehicles. Examples of such adjustable or "universal" tailpipe hangers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,774,706 issued May 8, 1956 to Gerdy, U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,579 issued July 19, 1966 to Engman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,984 issued Mar. 11, 1966 to Clemons, U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,605 issued May 2, 1967 to Tabbert and U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,768 issued Jan. 25, 1977 to Evans.
Although each of these prior universal type hangers can be adjusted to accommodate different tailpipe support arrangements, some of these are limited in the number of adjustments available and others, require substantial labor for adjusting the hanger size or mounting angle. For example, in many prior hangers, the hanger is provided with an elongated, heavy metal strap, which must be bent by the installing mechanic to appropriately fit against the vehicle support. In the so called "heavy duty" types of hangers, the metal straps are relatively stiff, being formed of thick steel sheet, so that it is difficult and time consuming to properly bend these or to otherwise adjust them for mounting.
In addition, certain types or original equipment straps are made to loop over or suspend from simple brackets and are fastened upon or formed within the vehicle frame or chassis. The typical adjustable replacement brackets bypass the original equipment bracket since it has been difficult to form a single adjustable hanger which can either use different size existing vehicle brackets or alternatively, can be fastened to other portions of the vehicle.
Hence, the invention herein relates to a universally adjustable tailpipe hanger having an unusually large number of adjustments and the option of utilizing the vehicle original equipment hanger support bracket.